Reviews
"Garver readily admits that it is a challenge to cover in-depth all possible aspects of China's foreign policy. He instead emphasizes that the purpose of the book is to examine the 'logic and practice of prc foreign policy.' To this end, he indeed has succeeded." -- Journal of American-East Asian Relations"China's Quest lives up to the definitive comprehensiveness suggested by its subtitle. This superb, lengthy volume knits together thick descriptions of events in China from 1949 until today into a clear, compelling narrative." -- Foreign Affairs"The culmination of a career of prodigious scholarship, this magnum opus consolidates John Garver's position as a leader in the field of modern china's foreign relations. Featuring fresh analyses that challenge conventional wisdom, the book provides answers to many puzzles from the past and explores vexing questions of Beijing's contemporary policies. All scholars and practitioners serious about understanding the People's Republic of China's long and tortuousascent to global power status must read this epic study." -- David Shambaugh, George Washington University and the Brookings Institution; author of China Goes Global"The history of Chinese foreign policy from 1949 to today may look like a bewildering series of ideological twists and turns. But Garver's clear-eyed narrative shows that Beijing always pursued the regime's survival interests and the country's strategic interests, in the face of challenges that shifted from American anti-communism to Soviet anti-Maoism to American democracy promotion. His book provides an essential foundation for understanding the motives ofChinese foreign policy past, present, and future." -- Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science, Columbia University, and co-author of China's Search for Security"In China's Quest, John W. Garver distills a lifetime of learning into crystalline form. He emphasizes the communist leadership's instrumental use of assertive nationalism as a primary means for legitimating its authoritarian Leninist-style rule in the process of China's ascent to its present status as a global power." -- Steven I. Levine, co-author of Arc of Empire and, with primary author Alexander Pantsov, of Mao: The Real Story and Deng Xiaoping"John Garver provides readers with an admirable antidote to China's increasingly one-sided propaganda about the glorious history of its foreign policy. This easy-to-read, wide-ranging book avoids polemics and arms readers to refute distortions with well-balanced arguments backed by carefully marshaled evidence. Those looking for a single overview that does not hesitate to address today's most contentious themes are likely to find satisfaction in this book." -- Gilbert Rozman, Musgrave Professor of Sociology, Princeton University, "China's Quest lives up to the definitive comprehensiveness suggested by its subtitle. This superb, lengthy volume knits together thick descriptions of events in China from 1949 until today into a clear, compelling narrative." -- Foreign Affairs "The culmination of a career of prodigious scholarship, this magnum opus consolidates John Garver's position as a leader in the field of modern china's foreign relations. Featuring fresh analyses that challenge conventional wisdom, the book provides answers to many puzzles from the past and explores vexing questions of Beijing's contemporary policies. All scholars and practitioners serious about understanding the People's Republic of China's long and tortuous ascent to global power status must read this epic study." -- David Shambaugh, George Washington University and the Brookings Institution; author of China Goes Global "The history of Chinese foreign policy from 1949 to today may look like a bewildering series of ideological twists and turns. But Garver's clear-eyed narrative shows that Beijing always pursued the regime's survival interests and the country's strategic interests, in the face of challenges that shifted from American anti-communism to Soviet anti-Maoism to American democracy promotion. His book provides an essential foundation for understanding the motives of Chinese foreign policy past, present, and future." -- Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science, Columbia University, and co-author of China's Search for Security "In China's Quest, John W. Garver distills a lifetime of learning into crystalline form. He emphasizes the communist leadership's instrumental use of assertive nationalism as a primary means for legitimating its authoritarian Leninist-style rule in the process of China's ascent to its present status as a global power." -- Steven I. Levine, co-author of Arc of Empire and, with primary author Alexander Pantsov, of Mao: The Real Story and Deng Xiaoping "John Garver provides readers with an admirable antidote to China's increasingly one-sided propaganda about the glorious history of its foreign policy. This easy-to-read, wide-ranging book avoids polemics and arms readers to refute distortions with well-balanced arguments backed by carefully marshaled evidence. Those looking for a single overview that does not hesitate to address today's most contentious themes are likely to find satisfaction in this book." -- Gilbert Rozman, Musgrave Professor of Sociology, Princeton University, "Garver readily admits that it is a challenge to cover in-depth all possible aspects of China's foreign policy. He instead emphasizes that the purpose of the book is to examine the 'logic and practice of prc foreign policy.' To this end, he indeed has succeeded." -- Journal of American-East Asian Relations"China's Quest lives up to the definitive comprehensiveness suggested by its subtitle. This superb, lengthy volume knits together thick descriptions of events in China from 1949 until today into a clear, compelling narrative." -- Foreign Affairs"The culmination of a career of prodigious scholarship, this magnum opus consolidates John Garver's position as a leader in the field of modern china's foreign relations. Featuring fresh analyses that challenge conventional wisdom, the book provides answers to many puzzles from the past and explores vexing questions of Beijing's contemporary policies. All scholars and practitioners serious about understanding the People's Republic of China's long and tortuous ascent to global power status must read this epic study." -- David Shambaugh, George Washington University and the Brookings Institution; author of China Goes Global"The history of Chinese foreign policy from 1949 to today may look like a bewildering series of ideological twists and turns. But Garver's clear-eyed narrative shows that Beijing always pursued the regime's survival interests and the country's strategic interests, in the face of challenges that shifted from American anti-communism to Soviet anti-Maoism to American democracy promotion. His book provides an essential foundation for understanding the motives of Chinese foreign policy past, present, and future." -- Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science, Columbia University, and co-author of China's Search for Security"In China's Quest, John W. Garver distills a lifetime of learning into crystalline form. He emphasizes the communist leadership's instrumental use of assertive nationalism as a primary means for legitimating its authoritarian Leninist-style rule in the process of China's ascent to its present status as a global power." -- Steven I. Levine, co-author of Arc of Empire and, with primary author Alexander Pantsov, of Mao: The Real Story and Deng Xiaoping"John Garver provides readers with an admirable antidote to China's increasingly one-sided propaganda about the glorious history of its foreign policy. This easy-to-read, wide-ranging book avoids polemics and arms readers to refute distortions with well-balanced arguments backed by carefully marshaled evidence. Those looking for a single overview that does not hesitate to address today's most contentious themes are likely to find satisfaction in this book." -- Gilbert Rozman, Musgrave Professor of Sociology, Princeton University, "Garver readily admits that it is a challenge to cover in-depth all possible aspects of China's foreign policy. He instead emphasizes that the purpose of the book is to examine the 'logic and practice of prc foreign policy.' To this end, he indeed has succeeded." -- Journal of American-East Asian Relations "China's Quest lives up to the definitive comprehensiveness suggested by its subtitle. This superb, lengthy volume knits together thick descriptions of events in China from 1949 until today into a clear, compelling narrative." -- Foreign Affairs "The culmination of a career of prodigious scholarship, this magnum opus consolidates John Garver's position as a leader in the field of modern china's foreign relations. Featuring fresh analyses that challenge conventional wisdom, the book provides answers to many puzzles from the past and explores vexing questions of Beijing's contemporary policies. All scholars and practitioners serious about understanding the People's Republic of China's long and tortuous ascent to global power status must read this epic study." -- David Shambaugh, George Washington University and the Brookings Institution; author of China Goes Global "The history of Chinese foreign policy from 1949 to today may look like a bewildering series of ideological twists and turns. But Garver's clear-eyed narrative shows that Beijing always pursued the regime's survival interests and the country's strategic interests, in the face of challenges that shifted from American anti-communism to Soviet anti-Maoism to American democracy promotion. His book provides an essential foundation for understanding the motives of Chinese foreign policy past, present, and future." -- Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science, Columbia University, and co-author of China's Search for Security "In China's Quest, John W. Garver distills a lifetime of learning into crystalline form. He emphasizes the communist leadership's instrumental use of assertive nationalism as a primary means for legitimating its authoritarian Leninist-style rule in the process of China's ascent to its present status as a global power." -- Steven I. Levine, co-author of Arc of Empire and, with primary author Alexander Pantsov, of Mao: The Real Story and Deng Xiaoping "John Garver provides readers with an admirable antidote to China's increasingly one-sided propaganda about the glorious history of its foreign policy. This easy-to-read, wide-ranging book avoids polemics and arms readers to refute distortions with well-balanced arguments backed by carefully marshaled evidence. Those looking for a single overview that does not hesitate to address today's most contentious themes are likely to find satisfaction in this book." -- Gilbert Rozman, Musgrave Professor of Sociology, Princeton University
Synopsis
The evolution of the the People's Republic of China in world politics is an epic story and one of the most important developments in modern world history. Yet to date, there are no authoritative histories of China's foreign relations. John Garver's monumental China's Quest fills this lacuna and draws from memoirs by Chinese leaders and diplomats, including those written by several foreign ministers, as well as significant new archival material. Garver situates the history of PRC foreign relations in a central drama of the 20th century: the rise and fall of Communist ideology. This new and revised edition includes an additional chapter and new analysis, which address China's strategies in the aftermath of the Western economic crisis, Xi Jinping's embrace of assertive nationalism, the "China Dream" and restoration of China's leading global status, and the "One Belt, One Road" and "communities of common destiny" initiatives. The summation of Garver's fifty-year study of Chinese foreign relations, China's Quest is an expansive and conceptually powerful resource for everyone interested in China's role in the world., China's Quest, the result of over a decade of research, writing, and analysis, is both sweeping in breadth and encyclopedic in detail. Quite simply, it will be essential for any student or scholar with a strong interest in China's foreign policy. This new and revised edition includes an additional chapter and new analysis, which address China's strategies in the aftermath of the Western economic crisis, Xi Jinping's embrace of assertive nationalism, the "China Dream" and restoration of China's leading global status, and the "One Belt, One Road" and "communities of common destiny" initiatives., From its founding 65 years ago, the People's Republic of China has evolved from an important yet chaotic and impoverished state whose power was more latent than real into a great power on the cusp of possessing the largest economy in the world. Its path from the 1949 revolution to the present has been filled with twists and turns, including internal upheavals, a dramatic break with the Soviet Union, the 1989 revolution wave, and various wars and quasi-wars against India, the USSR, Vietnam, and South Korea. Throughout it all, international pressures have been omnipresent, forcing the regime to periodically shift course. In short, the evolution of the PROC in world politics is an epic story and one of the most important developments in modern world history. Yet to date, there has been no authoritative history of China's foreign relations.John Garver's monumental China's Quest not only addresses this gap; it will almost certainly serve as the definitive work on the topic for years to come. Garver, one of the world's leading scholars of Chinese foreign policy, covers a vast amount of ground and threads a core argument through the entirety of his account: domestic political concerns-regime survival in particular-have been the primary force driving the People's Republic's foreign policy agenda. The objective of communist regime survival, he argues, transcends the more rudimentary pursuit of national interests that realists focus on. Indeed, from 1949 onward, domestic politics has been integral to the PROC's foreign policy choices. Over the decades, the regime's decisions in the realm of international politics have been dictated concerns about internal stability. In the early days of the regime, Mao and other part leaders were concerned with surviving in the face of American aggression. Later, they came to see the post-Stalinist Soviet model as a threat to their revolutionary program and initiated a stunning break with Khrushchev regime. Finally, the collapse of other communist regimes in and after 1989 radically altered their relationships with capitalist powers, and again preserving regime stability in a world where communism has been largely abandoned became paramount. China's Quest, the result of over a decade of research, writing, and analysis, is both sweeping in breadth and encyclopedic in detail. Quite simply, it will be essential for any student or scholar with a strong interest in China's foreign policy.
